the morning routine.

I recently read a blog post someone had written about how much their morning routine affected the rest of their day and basically their overall sanity/homemaking ability. I've been striving to be a good homemaker since... well... since Todd and I started our home together. That's 5 years now and I definitely feel like there's a lot of room for improvement. I thought it'd be fun to set a few "morning routine" goals for myself and see how they affected the rest of my life.

Take note that I didn't just write out a schedule here. There was a reason for each of my morning activities. I took a step back and wrote out a list of what I want my home to be. I also wrote out a list of the things I'd like to accomplish in the mornings. Then I connected the two to determine my morning routine. Each activity has a predetermined outcome. We'll see how it actually goes once implemented. (:

What I want my home to be... happy, clean, creative, healthy, loving.

What I want to accomplish in the morning... scriptures, exercise, breakfast, get ready.

Here's the morning routine that I am going to test out:

• Wake up early- 5:30am
• Be the first one up to "stoke the fire." I want to show my love for my family by being the first face of their day. Not some cartoon on PBS or facebook post. I want to welcome them to the day with a warm hug and a big smile.
• Exercise- 5:45-6:45am
• I want to exercise in order to take care of my body AND I want to show my children that I value good health. I want them to find joy and satisfaction in being healthy.
• Eat breakfast and feed the children- 7:00-7:15am
• Eating breakfast is so SO important. If you're not doing it you really ought to try it out. I know you've been hearing that for years but seriously! Also eating with my kids is always a great way to spend time together chatting. I want to use this time to teach them good manners, talk about how we want our day to go, and to most importantly show them that I love spending time with them.
• Study scriptures- 7:15-7:30am
• I also want to exercise my spiritual muscles and show my kids the importance of daily scripture study. I want them to actually see that I have a testimony and that I have to work to keep it a strong one.
• Clean something... anything- 7:30-7:45am
• Having a clean home provides so much sanity for me! If I am actually able to control clutter you better believe I am going to do it and it's going to be the physical clutter in my home. I want having a clean home to positively affect other aspects of my life. Most importantly cleaner communication and clearer thoughts.
• Get ready for the day- 7:45-8:00am
• It's very easy for me to not get ready when we're not going anywhere. I find that I'm much more productive when I get ready regardless of our day's plans. I want getting ready for the day to help me get moving and be more proactive when it comes to those mothering goals that I always remember I need to do better at once the kids go to bed but that I'm always too lazy to actually improve on throughout the day when the kids are awake.

Alrighty... we'll see how things go! I have a feeling that every morning is going to be different and I'm just going to have to accept that. But for now I'll do what I can to have some consistency.

p.s. got any advice for me? something that you always start your day with that's basically a game changer for the rest of your day??